Getty During his nine-year NFL career, offensive lineman Billy Turner has played two stints with the Broncos, from 2016 to 2018 and 2022.
A former member of the Denver Broncos did not hold back when describing the 2022 team’s 5-12 season.
“We weren’t good at all,” offensive lineman Billy Turner told Sirius XM’s Lance Medow on the May 10 episode of “Mad Dog Sports Radio.” “I’m just going to be honest with you, we weren’t. We were s***. We could have been good, yeah. We had everything in our core to be a great team – we did – but we were not. It’s just how it is.”
Turner, who signed with the New York Jets on May 2, said the Broncos’ expectations turned out to be anything but a reality last season.
“You just cannot go into a season relying on expectations that you hear and see from the media,” said Turner, who played 2016-2018 on the Broncos and again in 2022. “You see them talking about how good the Denver Broncos are going to be in 2022 because they got Russell Wilson, they got Nathaniel Hackett, they got this and that. You can’t expect that to just become true because they’re talking about it, and I found that out firsthand.”
Last year, the Broncos brought in a new head coach (Nathaniel Hackett) and quarterback (Russell Wilson) with high hopes of implementing an explosive offense. But the lack of offensive production was key in Denver’s struggles last season.
The Broncos scored the fewest points per game in the NFL (16.9) and Hackett was fired by the team on December 26 after amassing a 4-11 record.
Billy Turner Details Denver’s Offensive Struggles
Turner said he couldn’t blame Hackett, Wilson or any single person on Denver’s disappointing season.
“Our margin for error, which is, with every team, super small – and yes, we had a lot of one-score games that we did not figure out how to pull out,” Turner noted. “But with that being said, I’m not going to sit here and point blame at any individual person. I was a part of that offense. I was a part of that team. I was a part of the problem – 110% I was.”
Turner played eight games last season, starting seven in various spots throughout the offensive line, a unit that led the league in sacks allowed (63). Turner was given a 56.3 overall grade by Pro Football Focus.
He said the Broncos franchise as a whole should be held accountable for the team’s dismal offensive production in 2022.
“We couldn’t figure out how to get our mojo, so to speak, and figure out how to move the ball and be efficient on offense,” he said. “Again, that is not on Nathaniel Hackett, that is not on Russell Wilson. That is on the offense as a whole, that’s on the organization, that’s on the entire team because everything goes into that and everybody plays a part in that.
A Look Into Billy Turner’s Future With the Jets
The 6-foot-5 and 310-pound lineman signed a one-year deal worth $3.15 million with the Jets on May 1. Now in New York, Turner is not only on a team consisting of ex-Packers Hackett and Rodgers. He’s also being joined by former Green Bay quarterback Tim Boyle as well as wide receivers Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard. Turner himself played on the Packers from 2019 to 2021, when Hackett was offensive coordinator.
In 2021, Rodgers praised Turner on “The Pat McAfee Show,” calling him “maybe the unsung hero of the [Packers’] offensive line.”
Turner said on Mad Dog Sports Radio that it’s been refreshing to see Rodgers in a new setting, per Fox News.
“The dude [Rodgers] just shows up to work, and he’s just so f****** happy right now,” Turner said, according to Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos. “It’s very cool to witness and see because it doesn’t matter how long you’re in this profession, it’s the type of profession where regardless of how long you spend in it, you can always experience something new. And he’s experiencing something new for the first time in his career, and it’s cool to be part of and watch.”